Conceptual Physics Chapter One: About Science

The form (ID) of this test may not be the same form (ID) as the test you took; therefore the order of questions may be different!

PART I: Short Answer (80)

Answer the questions below on your own paper. Answer only one question per page. Structure your answer in ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ format. Naturally, you will follow procedure IVb if you expect to recieve full credit for your work.

1. Consider what you learned in this chapter about Science, Technology, Art and Religion:

a) What kinds of questions does Science answer?

b) What kinds of questions does religion answer?

c) In what way does technology depend on science?

d) In what way does science depend on technology?

e) Regarding art, what does Mr. Hewitt say that art can help us experience?

2. You have learned that theories are very important to science. Regarding theories, consider information, questions and change:

a) What do theories do with scientific observations and information?

b) Which theory is better, one that raises questions or one that answers questions? Explain why you chose what you chose.

c) Theories constantly change; why is this a good thing for science?

PART II: True/False (30)

Determine whether the statements below are true or false. Mark your answer document ‘a’ for true and ‘b’ for false.

PART III: Rewrite (60)

On your own paper rewrite each of the false statements so that they will be true. Be sure to address all of the areas of the false statement that are false. You will receive ten (10) (5+5) points for each correctly rewritten statement. The rewritten false statements should be the only test items on this page.

3. The best scientific theories are the ones that answer the most questions and make the fewest predictions.

4. Science is about cosmic purpose while religion is about cosmic order.

5. Art is important to helps us to experience emotions and feelings we might not otherwise get to experience

6. In science a law is simply a statement of a relationship between two quantities, such as Boyle’s Law, which describes the relationship between the pressure and the volume of a gas.

7. A scientific fact is the sort of fact that never change regardless of the information learned years after the fact is discovered.

8. Mathematics is the language of science because a mathematical expression, unlike an English sentence, is always clear and unambiguous.

9. The way to know whether an hypothesis is a scientific hypothesis is whether or not it can be proven to be correct.

10. Science is a way of doing while technology is a way of knowing.

11. The fact that a scientific theory keeps changing is a not good thing because each time the theory changes it also changes the truth.

12. We, as citizens, have a serious responsibility to have some basic knowledge of science and of nature’s rules because we vote.

PART III: Multiple Choice (30)

Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. Carefully place your answer choice on your answer document.

13. Which of these is a scientific hypothesis?

a.	Atoms are the smallest particles of matter that exist.	c.	Space actually consists of multiverses, many, many other universes that cannot be detected.
b.	Albert Einstein is the greatest physicist of the 20th century because he proved that atoms exist.	d.	There is a ‘force’ in the universe that can be taped for doing otherwise impossible acts.

14. Physics is the most basic science because ___

a.	it is the most precise of all the sciences.	c.	the ideas of physics extend into most other sciences.
b.	everyone can understand physice because it is so basic.	d.	it is a study of all moving and stationary objects.

15. Religion is about ___, while science is about ___.

a.	order, purpose	c.	cosmic order, cosmic purpose
b.	purpose, order	d.	cosmic purpose, cosmic order

16. Which of the steps below is actually a step from the scientific method?

a.	Keep the results of an experiment secret so that other scientists sill not out-do you.	c.	Always do an experiment once and only once.
b.	Make a resonable prediction about the outcome of an up-coming experiment.	d.	Always do an experiment over and over again until the results match the predicted outcome.

17. Science, religion, and art are important for a full human experience because ___

a.	science is the most important of these three.	c.	people are divided into three parts, one for each of these domains.
b.	without science art and religion cannot exist.	d.	all three have different domains each of which enriches the human experience.

18. Science is a way of ___ while technology is a way of ___.

a.	knowing, doing	c.	purpose, order
b.	doing, knowing.	d.	order, purpose

19. A scientific fact is ___

a.	something you can always believe to be true for all time.	c.	an educated guess that that has yet to be proven by scientists.
b.	something agreed upon by competent observers of the same phenomena over a long period of time.	d.	actually an hypothesis that has been tested over and over again until it has been proven to be true.

20. A scientific hypothesis is a valid scientific hyphothesis only if there ___

a.	is a way to prove it wrong.	c.	are other hypothesis like it that have been proven wrong.
b.	is a way to prove it correct.	d.	are other hypothesis like it that have been proven correct.

21. Scientific theories constantly change. This is ___

a.	not a good thing because it shows how inaccurate science is.	c.	a good thing because it brings us closer and closer to the truth.
b.	not a good thing because it causes a great deal of confusion.	d.	a good thing becasue initally theories are often always wrong.

22. The best scientific theories are the ones that ___

a.	explain the most things.	c.	answer the most questions.
b.	raise the most questions.	d.	make the fewest predictions

Conceptual Physics Chapter One: About Science

Answer Section

The form (ID) of this test may not be the same form (ID) as the test you took; therefore the order of questions may be different!

SHORT ANSWER

1. Considering what we learned in this chapter about Science, Technology, Art and Religion:

a) Science answers questions about cosmic order.

b) Religion answers questions about cosmic purpose.

c) Technology depends on science to find new things useful for the practical application of discoveries made in science.

d) Science depends on technology for tools and instruments with which to investigate and measure nature.

e) Mr. Hewitt reminds us that art can help us understand experiences we have never, or may never, have.

2. Knowing that theories are important to science I have this to say about information, questions and change:

a) Theories organize the information gained by scientific observations.

b) A theory that raises questions is a lot better than a theory that only answers questions. This is because by raising questions more knowledge can be gained and the theory gets closer to the truth.

c) Many uninformed people say that science is unreliable because theories keep changing. To help people who think this way to understand that changing theories is a good thing I would tell them that every time a theory changes it brings us closer to the truth. This is why, I would tell them, theories MUST change. A changed theory is a better theory.

TRUE/FALSE

3. FALSE: The best scientific theories are the ones that answer the most questions and make the fewest predictions.

TRUE: The best scientific theories are the ones that raise the most questions and make the most predictions.

4. FALSE: Science is about cosmic purpose while religion is about cosmic order.

TRUE: Science is about cosmic order while religion is about cosmic purpose.

5. T

6. T

7. FALSE: A scientific fact is the sort of fact that never change regardless of the information learned years after the fact is discovered.

TRUE: A scientific fact is just the sort of fact that does change as new information is learned years after the fact is discovered.

8. T

9. FALSE: The way to know whether an hypothesis is a scientific hypothesis is whether or not it can be proven to be correct.

TRUE: The way to know whether an hypothesis is a scientific hypothesis is whether or not it can be proven to be incorrect.

10. FALSE: Science is a way of doing while technology is a way of knowing.

TRUE: Science is a way of knowing while technology is a way of doing.

11. FALSE: The fact that a scientific theory keeps changing is a not good thing because each time the theory changes it also changes the truth.

TRUE: The fact that a scientific theory keeps changing is a good thing because each time the theory changes it also gets closer to the truth.

12. T

MULTIPLE CHOICE

13. A

14. C

15. D

16. B

17. D

18. A

19. B

20. A

21. C

22. B